BIRDS OF THE AIR

by Arabella B. BuckleyWild Life in Woods I. and FieldsBy Pond and RiverII. Plant Life in Field and III. GardenBirds of the AirIV. Trees and ShrubsV. Insect LifeVI.

On the SeashoreVII. Within the DeepVIII. Riverside RamblesIX. Highways and X. HedgerowsNature’s NurseriesXI. O’er Moor and FenXII.

by R. Cadwallader Smith

“Eyes and No Eyes” Series

“EYES AND NO EYES” SERIES BOOK IV

BIRDS OF THE AIR

BY

ARABELLA B. BUCKLEY

YESTERDAY’S CLASSICS

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA

Th is edition, fi rst published in 2008 by Yesterday’s Classics, an imprint of Yesterday’s Classics, LLC, is an unabridged republication of the text originally published by Cassell and Company, Ltd. in 1901. For the complete listing of the books that are published by Yesterday’s Classics, please visit www.yesterdaysclassics.com. Yesterday’s Classics is the publishing arm of the Baldwin Online Children’s Literature Project which presents the complete text of hundreds of classic books for children at www.mainlesson.com.

ISBN-10: 1-59915-274-6ISBN-13: 978-1-59915-274-5

Yesterday’s Classics, LLC PO Box 3418 Chapel Hill, NC 27515

Cover and arrangement © 2008 Yesterday’s Classics, LLC.

Birds We KnowI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

The Song of BirdsII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

The Nests of BirdsIII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Birds’ EggsIV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Baby BirdsV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Birds Feeding Their YoungVI. . . . . . . .24

Where Do Birds Sleep?VII. . . . . . . . . . . .30

Feeding in SummerVIII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Migrating in AutumnIX. . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Bird-Food in WinterX. . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Other Small BirdsXI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Birds of PreyXII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Rooks and Their CompanionsXIII. . . . .61

Web-Footed BirdsXIV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

Bird EnemiesXV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

CONTENTS

1

CHAPTER I

BIRDS WE KNOWI wonder how many birds you know by sight, and what you could tell about their nests and their lives?

Th ere are between three and four hundred diff erent British birds, and very few people know them all. But in any one place there are not more common birds than you could learn in a year. You can look for the rare ones aft erwards.

Th e best way to begin is to write down those you are sure about, and say how you recognise them. You cannot mistake a Robin, with his red breast, his plump little body, and his brown wings. Th e mother robin’s breast is not quite so red, and the young have no red at all. But when you have seen them with the cock-robin, you will soon know them by their shape.

But a Chaffi nch has a red breast. How can you tell him from a robin? His breast is much browner than the robin’s, and even at a distance you may know him by the white bands on his dark wings, and the yellow tips to some of his feathers. Th en his body is longer, and he moves more gracefully than the robin, while his

2

BIRDS OF THE AIR

loud “pink, pink,” if you go near his nest, will tell you at once what he is.

Th e Lark you know by his slender brown body and white speckled throat, and by the way he soars, as he sings his sweet song. Th e common green Woodpecker is easily known by his bright colours, his curious feet, and his stiff tail, which he uses to jerk himself up a tree. And though a Nuthatch also goes up a tree by jumps, you would never take him for a woodpecker, for he is no bigger than a sparrow, and he has a short tail and blue-grey wings and a dingy red breast.

Th en you know the cooing Wood-pigeon, the chattering Magpie, the soaring Hawk and his hooked beak, and the downy Owl. And I daresay you could tell me of many more.

Th e birds you know best will most of them be with us all the year round. But not all. Th e Swift s fl y away to the south in August, and the Swallows and the Martins follow in October. When they are gone the Fieldfares come from the north, and feed in fl ocks on the worms in the damp fi elds, and on the holly berries when the ground is hard with frost.

Th e Swallow and the House Martin are so alike that, as they come and go together, you might not know them apart, unless you remember that a Swallow has a blue-black collar across his breast, and that the fork of his tail is longer than that of the Martin. You may be busy all the year round watching the birds, seeing

3

BIRDS WE KNOW

when they come and go, what food they eat, how they fl y, whether they sing in the morning or evening, and where they build their nests.

Many farmers and gardeners shoot little birds because they eat their corn and peas and fruit. But a large number of birds feed chiefl y on insects. You ought to know which these are, for they are very useful in clearing away earwigs and caterpillars, as well as slugs and snails. If you look out early some morning and see a Th rush tapping a snail-shell against a stone to get at the snail, you will say he is a good gardener. You will not grudge him a little fruit in the summer.

Th en there are the nests and the young birds to watch. You need not take the nests, nor rob the birds of their eggs. You will learn much more by pulling back the leaves and the twigs, and peeping gently into the nest. For then you can come another day and watch when the eggs hatch, and how the young birds grow. If you are careful not to disturb the bush nor touch the eggs, the mother will not desert them. Last year a pair of Th rushes built their nest in a hedge by the side of a path where people were always passing. But though I went oft en to look at it, the mother brought up all her four little ones. She would even sit still on the nest when I peeped in, while her mate sang on a tree close by.

Point out and describe six birds common in the neighbourhood.

4

CHAPTER II

THE SONG OF BIRDSBirds sing when they are happy, and cry out when they are frightened, just as children do. Only they have songs and cries of their own. You can always tell when the little song-birds are happy, for each one trills out his joyous notes as he sits on a branch of a tree, or the top of a hedge.

In the early morning of the spring, you will hear singing in the garden almost before it is light. First there is a little chirping and twittering, as if the birds were saying “good-morning” and preparing their throats. Th en, as the sun rises, there comes a burst of song.

Robins, Th rushes, Blackbirds, Chaffi nches, and Wrens whistle away merrily, and many other little birds join in. While they are all singing together, it is not easy to tell one song from another, though the Th rush sings loudest and clearest of all.

Th en they fl y away to their breakfast and, as the day goes on, you hear one or two at a time. So you can listen to the notes of each song, and if you go near very quietly, you can see the throat of the bird swelling and

5

THE SONG OF BIRDS

quivering as he works the little voice-chords inside, which make the notes.

It is not easy to write down what a bird sings, for it is like whistling–there are no words in it. But people oft en try to imitate their songs in words. Listen to the Th rush. You can fancy he says “cherry-tree, cherry-tree, cherry-tree” three times. Th en, aft er some other notes, he sings “hurry-up, hurry-up,” and “go-it, go-it.” For the thrush has a great many notes.

Th e pretty Yellowhammer, with its bright yellow head, sings “a little bit of bread, and no che-e-s-e.” Th e Chiff -chaff calls “chiff -chaff , chiff -chaff ” quite distinctly. Any child can imitate the cuckoo, or the coo-oo-oo of the wood-pigeon.

As the days grow hotter, the birds sing less. Th ey sit on the branches of the trees, or on the hedges under the shade of the leaves, or hop about in the wood.

Th en when the evening comes, and long shadows creep over the grass, each bird looks out for his supper. When he is satisfi ed he sings his evening song of content, before he goes to sleep.

What a concert it is! Finches, tomtits, sparrows, wrens, robins, and chaffi nches all singing at once. And above them all, come the song of the thrushes and blackbirds, the cooing of the wood-pigeon and the caw-caw of the rooks as they fl y home from the fi elds. As the thrushes were the fi rst to begin in the morning,

6

BIRDS OF THE AIR

except the lark, so they are the last to leave off at night, and oft en one thrush will go on long aft er all the others are quiet.

Th en at last all seem to have settled down for the night. But no! If you live in Kent, or any part of the south or east of England, you may hear in May or June a sweet sound, like a fl ute, coming soft ly from many parts of the wood. Th is comes from the Nightingales, who, in the warm summer, will sing nearly all night.

Th ey sing in the day as well, but their note is so soft that oft en you cannot hear it when more noisy birds are singing. In the still night you can hear the sweet song rising up six notes and then bubbling like a fl ute played in water. When you have once heard a nightingale sing you will never forget it. In Yorkshire or Devonshire you will not hear him, for he does not go so far to the North or to the West.

Birds sing most in the spring, for then they are making their nests, and the father bird sings to the mother while she is building, and when she is sitting on the eggs. You may oft en fi nd out where a Robin’s nest is hidden by seeing the cock-robin sitting on a branch singing to his mate. Most people too, have seen the Wood-pigeon puffi ng out his throat and cooing and bowing to the mother bird on her nest. For pigeons make love all the year round.

When the mother bird is sitting, the father bird sings for joy, and when the young birds are hatched he

7

THE SONG OF BIRDS

teaches them his song. Song-birds have very delicate throats. Th ey have muscles, which quiver like the strings of a violin, and the young birds have to learn to work these muscles.

It is curious to hear a young Blackbird or Th rush beginning to try a tune. First he sounds one note, then two or three. Th ey are not always in tune, but he tries again and again. So little by little he learns his father’s song.

Listen to the song of birds—robins, thrushes, blackbirds, larks, nightingales, bullfi nches and others, and try to imitate them by whistling.

8

CHAPTER III

THE NESTS OF BIRDSIf you want to know how cleverly nests are made, you should collect a few which the birds have deserted, or from which the young birds have fl own.

You will fi nd a Hedge-sparrow’s nest in many a hawthorn bush, and though it is a simple nest, I think you will fi nd, if you pull it to pieces, that you cannot put it together again as well as the bird did.

A Chaffi nch’s nest is more fi nely woven. You will most likely fi nd one in the apple trees in the orchard. It is made of dry grass and moss matted together with wool in the shape of a deep cup, and lined with hair and feathers. Outside, the bird will most likely have stuck pieces of grey or white lichen. Lichen is the papery-looking plant which grows on apple trees, and which children call grey moss. Th e pieces woven in help to hide the nest in an apple tree. When the Chaffi nch builds in a green hedge she oft en uses green moss instead.

Now try to fi nd a Th rush’s nest. It may be in a laurel-bush or a fi r-tree. It is large and quite fi rm, not soft like the hedge-sparrows nest. For the thrush

9

THE NESTS OF BIRDS

plasters the inside with mud, or cow-dung, or rotten wood, till it is almost as hard as the inside of a cocoa-nut shell.

When you have looked at these nests, you will want to see one built next spring. But this is not so easy. For birds try to hide the cradles of their little ones, and do not like to work when anyone is near.

Rooks are the easiest to watch, for they build in high trees, and therefore are not shy. You may see them fl ying along with pieces of stick in their mouths, and bringing mud and clay to plaster them together. Sometimes you may see the old rooks staying behind in the rookery, to steal the sticks from the nests of the young rooks while they are away, instead of fetching them for themselves.

Birds do not all make the same shaped nests. Th e Lark makes her nest of grass in a rut or a furrow of the fi eld. Th e green Plover or Peewit, whose cry you know so well, “pee-weet, pee-weet,” lays a few bits of grass, or rush, in a marsh or in a rough fi eld. Her little ones run about as soon as they come out of the egg.

Th e Swallows build their nests of mud and straw on the raft ers of barns, or under the ledges of chimneys, in the shape of a shallow basin, and line them with feathers. But the Martins build under the eaves. Th ey make their nests of clay stuck against the wall like a bag, with only a small hole at the top. It is very funny

10

BIRDS OF THE AIR

to see the tail of a martin sticking out, when she puts her head into her nest to feed the young ones.

Th e Woodpecker makes a hole in a tree for her nest, and lines it with chips of wood. Th e Nuthatch looks out for a hole in a branch, and lines it with fl akes of bark and dry leaves. Th en, if it is too big, she fi lls up the opening with clay, all except one little hole.

Rooks and Pigeons build coarse nests. Th e rooks build theirs of sticks and turf

lined with grass and moss. The pigeon leaves hers so loose that the eggs almost

slip through. Th en the little sing-

ing birds, the Warblers, the Th rushes, the Nightingales, and the Robins build lovely cup-nests. Reed-warblers weave their nest round two

or three reeds, or other plants, near the water. It is made of blades of grass and lined with water-weed. Th e Wren, the long-tailed Titmouse, and the Chiff -chaff , build nests in the shape of a ball, with a hole in

build cobuild th

li

slip

ing bTh ruand tcup-weave

or threenear theblades owater-wlong-tai

REED-WARBLERS’ NEST

11

THE NESTS OF BIRDS

one side. Th e chiff -chaff lines hers with a beautifully soft layer of feathers.

Wrens build in all sorts of strange places, in walls and trees, in holes of rocks, on the tops of hedges and on the banks of rivers. If you look about near the nest in which the wren has laid her eggs you will oft en fi nd one or two other nests built exactly like it, but not lined with feathers. Th ey are called “cock’s nests.” We do not know why the birds build them. Perhaps one day you may fi nd out if you watch. Th e chiff -chaff hides her nests in the hedges or banks, and the long-tailed titmouse loves to build in the gorse bushes.

Once two Wrens were watched building their nest in a juniper tree. Th ey began at seven o’clock in the morning. Th e mother wren brought some leaves from a lime-tree. She put one leaf in a fork of the tree, and laid the others round it. Th en she went back for more. So she went on all day, bringing in leaves, and matting them together with moss, and all the while the cock-wren sang to her from the top of the tree.

By seven o’clock in the evening she had made the outside of the nest, in the shape of a ball with a hole in one side.

Next day the two birds began work together at half-past three in the morning. Th ey worked for eight days, carrying in moss and feathers. When they had done, the nest was a fi rm little ball, lined with a thick

12

BIRDS OF THE AIR

layer of soft feathers, for the wee wrens to lie in, when they were hatched.

Th en the mother wren laid fi ve small white eggs with a few red spots upon them, and sat for a whole fortnight, while her mate sang to her, and brought her insects to eat.

Examine nests. Mud-built—swallow, martin. Roughly woven—house-sparrow. Cup-nests—hedge-sparrow, chaffi nch. Woven and mud-lined—thrush.

13

CHAPTER IV

BIRDS’ EGGSWhen you have looked at several birds’ nests, you will want to see what the eggs are like. Try fi rst to fi nd those which are near your home. Some are so well hidden, that you will have to watch where the old birds go in and out, before you can fi nd them. Others, like the nests of rooks, magpies and jays, are easy to see, but not easy to reach.

Do not take the eggs. Each will hatch out into a happy little bird, and if you carried the egg home it would only be broken. Your teacher will very likely collect one of each kind, which will do to show the class for many years.

But look well at the eggs in the nest. Th en you will know them again when you fi nd them in another place. Count how many there are, and notice if any more are laid aft erwards. Th en reckon how long the eggs are being hatched, aft er the last one is laid. You will fi nd it is about a fortnight for the small birds and a day or two longer for rooks and pigeons. Th en you can watch the feeding of the young birds, which we shall talk about in the next two lessons.

14

BIRDS OF THE AIR

It is better not even to touch the eggs; for some birds, like the wood-pigeon, will desert their nests if the eggs have been handled. Other birds are not so particular. Mr. Kearton tells us that when he was a boy he used to fi nd plovers’ nests and amuse himself by turning the large end of the egg into the middle of the nest. As soon as the tidy mother came back, she always turned them round again with the points in the middle. Th e baby bird always comes out at the large end, so this gives them more room, as they hatch out.

If you have a laurel hedge in the garden you may fi nd a Th rush’s nest in it, with four to six beautiful blue eggs, about an inch long and spotted with black at the large end. Th e mother will scold you well, and perhaps will not leave the nest, and you will have to take your chance when she is away. You may fi nd a Blackbird’s nest not far off . You will know it from the thrush’s nest because it is lined with fi ne roots and grass, so is not hard inside. Th e eggs are greener with red-brown spots. Th e Missel-thrush generally builds in a tree, and her eggs are a light buff colour spotted with reddish brown and pale lilac.

Th e Chaffi nch will build close to your house, or in the apple trees of the orchard; and a pair of Bullfi nches may make their nest in the ivy of the old garden wall, though they are shy birds. Th e chaffi nch’s eggs are a pale brown-green colour with brown spots (see picture, p. 16). Th ey are about one-third the size of the thrush’s egg. Th e bullfi nch’s are a pale blue, spotted with brown

THRUSHES AND NEST

COCK AND HEN CHAFFINCH, WITH THEIR NEST

17

BIRDS’ EGGS

or purple. Be careful when you look at the bullfi nch’s nest, for though the mother will sit still, the father will be angry, and he may make her desert her nest, if he sees you.

You will have to get a ladder if you want to see a Martin’s nest, for they build under the eaves of the house. And when you pull away a little of the nest and look in, make sure that you see the right eggs, for a sparrow will oft en take a martin’s nest and lay her eggs in it. You can fi nd out, by watching which bird goes into the nest. But if you cannot do this, you may know by the colour of the eggs. A martin’s egg is white without any spots upon it. A sparrow’s egg is grey with brown blotches on it. When the sparrow builds her own nest, it is made of straw or hay lined with feathers. It has about fi ve or six eggs in it.

It is easier to look into a Swallow’s nest than into a martin’s, for it is not covered at the top, and is oft en put upon a raft er in a barn. It will have about fi ve white eggs in it, with dark red patches on them. Watch these nests carefully, for when the eggs are hatched it is very pretty to see the old swallows teaching the young ones to catch fl ies (see picture, p. 42).

We must not forget the Robins, though I expect you know their eggs well. Th ey are white, spotted with light red, and you may easily fi nd them, for in the spring there is a robin’s nest in almost every bank or hedgerow.

18

BIRDS OF THE AIR

You may look for a Tomtit’s nest in all sorts of strange places, from a hole in a tree, to a fl ower-pot which has been thrown away. Th ere will be a number of little white eggs in it speckled with red. Th e mother will hiss and peck at you to prevent you from taking them away. But in a few days she will not be afraid, for she is a bold little bird.

You must learn to look for other eggs yourselves. In the barn you may fi nd the Owl’s large white eggs, and sometimes young birds and eggs together. In a bank of a river, or a hole in a wall, you may fi nd the nest of a Water-wagtail with greyish white spotted eggs. Th e Rook’s bluish green eggs sometimes fall down from their nests; and the Jackdaws will build in your chimneys.

When you have spent some time hunting for nests and eggs, you will notice how cunningly they are hidden by their colour and their marks.

Wherever you fi nd white eggs like those of the owl, the martin, the woodpecker, the kingfi sher, and the pigeon, they are either quite hidden in a bank, a tree trunk, or a deep nest, or they are high up out of reach. Most other eggs are spotted, and they are either some shade of green or grey or brown, like the moss and leaves and twigs of the nest.

In any nest you can fi nd, see how many of the eggs grow up into young birds. Choose one nest each, to watch and see which child can count up most young birds.